Proto-Totonacan

Proto-Totonacan or Proto-Totonac-Tepehua (abbreviated PTn or PTT) is the hypothetical common ancestor of the Totonacan languages of Mexico. It was first reconstructed using comparative methods in 1953 by Evangelina Arana Osnaya.[1] Some linguists[lower-alpha 1] have proposed a link between the Totonacan and Mixe–Zoque language families; therefore making Proto-Totonacan a sister language of Proto-Mixe–Zoque and descendant of Proto-Totozoquean.[2]

Proto-Totonacan (PTn)
Proto-Totonac-Tepehua (PTT)
Reconstruction ofTotonacan languages

Phonology

Consonants

Proto-Totonacan consonants
Arana Osnaya (1953)[1]
Bilabial Alveolar Alveolo-
palatal
Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
central lateral
Nasal m n
Stop p  () t  () k  () q  () (ʔ)
Fricative s ɬ ʃ x (h)
Affricate ts  (tsʼ)   (tɬʼ)   (tʃʼ)
Approximant w l j
Notes
  • MacKay and Trechsel (2018) add ejective stops and affricates.[3]
  • Davletshin (2008) and Brown et al. (2011) add /ʔ/ and /h/.[4][2] MacKay and Trechsel (2018) accept /ʔ/ but reject /h/.[3]

Vowels

Proto-Totonacan vowels
Arana Osnaya 1953[1]
plain laryngealized
Front Central Back Front Central Back
Close i  u    ḭː  ṵː
Open a    a̰ː
Notes
  • Brown et al. (2011) accept this vowel inventory.[2]
  • MacKay and Trechsel (2018) reject laryngealized vowels in Proto-Totonacan. They argue that laryngealized vowels in the Totonac languages are too infrequent and erratic after fricatives and sonorants to support their reconstruction.[3]

Lexicon

The following Proto-Totonac-Tepehua reconstructions are from MacKay and Trechsel (2018).[3]

no.glossProto-Totonac-Tepehua
1‘spicy’*ɬkaka
2‘ash(es)’*ɬk’ak’a
3‘dances’*ƛ’ii-ya
4‘vomits’*p’aƛ’an-ya
5‘ear of corn’*ƛ’aqƛ’a
6‘counts’*puuƛ’aq’i-ya
7‘walks’*ƛ’aawan-ya
8‘pot’, ‘pitcher’*ƛ’amank
9‘bends’, ‘breaks’, ‘twists’*taƛ’aq’i-ya
10‘ripe’, ‘mature’*k’aƛa’
11‘wins’, ‘earns’*ƛaha-ya
12‘tires’, ‘gets tired’*ƛaqwan-ya
13‘talks to X’, ‘greets X’šaqaƛii-ya
14‘makes’, ‘does’*ƛawa-ya
15‘avocado tree’*kukaƛiiɬi
16‘nettle’*qahni
17‘lime (mineral)’*qaštah
18‘dust’, ‘powder’*puqšni
19‘flea’*aq¢’iis
20‘wasp’*qalaati
21‘turtle’*qahin
22‘knee’*¢uqutni
23‘tomato’*paqɬča
24‘plays’qamaanan-ya
25‘whistles’*squli-ya
26‘infant’, ‘baby’*sq’at’a
27‘heron’*luuq’u
28‘tongue’*siimaq’aati
29‘egg’*q’aɬwaati
30yucca*q’ušq’ihu
31‘gourd’*q’aaši
32‘washes X’*č’aq’aa-ya
33‘salty’*sq’uq’u
34‘steals’, ‘steals X’*q’aɬa-
35‘remembers’, ‘remembers X’*paastak’-ya
36‘piles X up’*maast’uq’-ya
37‘drinks’, ‘drinks X’*q’ut’-ya
38‘hears’, ‘hears X’*qašmat’-ya
39‘returns’*tasp’it’-ya
40‘cuts X’*sit’-ya
41‘squeezes X’*č’it’-ya
42‘unties X’*škut’-ya
43‘picks X up’*sak’-ya
44‘writes’, ‘writes X’*¢’uq’-ya
45‘foam’*puputi
46‘neck-related (body-part prefix)’*piš-
47‘pig’*p’ašni
48‘cuts X’*p’uš-ya
49‘louse’*skaata
50‘sleeps’*ɬtata-ya
51‘two’*-t’uy
52‘sells X’*st’aa-ya
53‘mouth’*kiɬni
54‘hand-related (body-part prefix)’*maka-
55‘knows X’*k’a¢ii-ya
56‘year’*k’aata
57‘tooth-related (body-part prefix)’*ta¢a-
58‘breast’*¢’ík’iiti
59‘stone’*čiwiš
60‘sugar cane’*č’ankati
61‘rain’*saʔiini
62‘blows X’*sunu-ya
63‘sweet’*saqsi(ʔ)
64‘bitter’*suuni
65‘eats’*wahin-ya
66‘is lying down’, ‘is supine’*maa-ɬi
67‘lizard’*slul
68‘is seated’*wii-ɬi
69‘liver’*ɬwak’ak’a
70‘throws X’, ‘throws X away’*maq’an-ya

See also

Notes

  1. Belmar 1910; Whorf 1935; McQuown 1942, 1956; Witkowski & Brown 1978; Greenberg 1987; Campbell 1997; Brown et al. 2011, among others

References

  1. Arana Osnaya, Evangelina (1953). "Reconstrucción del protototonaco. Huastecos, Totonacos y sus vecinos". Revista Mexicana de Estudios Antropológicos (in Spanish). 23: 123–130.
  2. Brown, Cecil H., David Beck, Grzegorz Kondrak, James K. Watters, and Søren Wichmann (2011). "Totozoquean". International Journal of American Linguistics. 77 (2): 323–372. doi:10.1086/660972.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. MacKay, Carolyn J.; Trechsel, Frank (2018). "An alternative reconstruction of Proto-Totonac-Tepehua". International Journal of American Linguistics. The University of Chicago. 84 (1): 51–92. doi:10.1086/694609.
  4. Davletshin, A. (2008). Classification of the Totonacan languages. Paper read at the conference "Проблемы изучения дальнего родства языков (к 55-летию С. А. Старостина)" Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow, 25–28 March 2008.
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